Articles tagged with: 2011 New Cars

The final launch of the season sees the Lotus T128 join the rest of the field. Hang on. Green, orange and white? No, this must be Force India’s VJM04. Oh well, I guess you have to expect these things when key (pun fully intended) members of the design team suddenly desert you to join a rival. Still, it’s becoming quite a familiar story: Lotus’ and Force India’s cars having more than a passing resemblance…

Well, that’s a surprise, the Hispania F111 is here. Well almost. The team have provided a first look at their second car in the form of graphics. Given that USF1 did something similar last year, maybe I shouldn’t get my hopes up too soon? Sporting a new livery straight from Hollywood, the team have at least made one step in the right direction…

The car itself has changed a lot since last year – no surprise given the complete change of design team. The F111 is the work of technical chief …

Formula One’s newest Russian team, and one which they’d probably like us to call Marussia but which we’ll all no doubt continue to call Virgin, revealed their new car today. However, designated the MVR-02 you’ll be hard pressed to see what has changed since the VR-01 last raced in earnest.

Not that it is entirely unchanged but apart from a lower nose, it only seems to be carrying the upgrades it should have benefited from in the latter half of 2010. The main change in this regard is the development of …

The 2011 launch season has thrown up no end of surprising innovations so far. Williams’ tiny gear box and rear end, Team Lotus’ adoption of the split airbox, Toro Rosso’s double-floor, Red Bull’s blown floor and of course Renault’s forward feeding exhausts. Now McLaren have got in on the act with a ‘U’ shaped sidepod design – all in all, Ferrari’s launch is now left looking rather tame…

The STR6 is Toro Rosso’s second car that they’ve had to design themselves and with each incarnation, they drift further away from their sister team’s design. It’s a surprising fact given how successful Red Bull have been – it almost feels likes they’re being deliberately different in order to avoid accusations of help from their sibling.

According to Toro Rosso’s Technical Director, Giorgio Ascanelli, the aim is to finish eighth in 2011. In other words, not last of the established teams. It seems like a worryingly unambitious statement of intent, even …

Williams do love to drag out their launches. That or their graphic designer doesn’t “do” deadlines. Once again, Williams fans will have to wait for a separate livery launch, for now the FW33 is resplendent in an interim livery sparsely littered with sponsor decals.

At the front, the FW33 has undergone relatively minor changes for the moment – the nose is shorter necessitating raked front-wing uprights but essentially an evolution of last year’s design. Indeed, that’s pretty much the story as you head back towards the engine cover, the most notable …